Perrin, Castren lead FHS runners at Mountain West Classic

| September 27, 2009 12:00 AM

The Daily Inter Lake

MISSOULA - Flathead freshman Zach Perrin placed sixth and teammate Leif Castren broke into the top 10 to lead the Braves cross country squad to a fifth-place showing among 52 teams at the Mountain West Classic at the University of Montana Golf Course on Saturday.

Perrin clocked 15:31, Castren ran 15:39 for ninth-place as Flathead scored 259 points and was the top placing team from Montana. Spokane's Mead won with 130 points in a field of 363 runners.

"Considering the injuries and illnesses we've had recently, we're very happy," Flathead assistant coach Jesse Rumsey said.

Whitefish's Bailey Eaton placed 24th, 19:21, and Jessica Sagen earned 27th, 19:31, and the Lady Bulldogs finished fifth with 260 points and were the top Class A girls team. Spokane's Shadle Park won with 56 points in a field of 320 girls and 43 teams.

"I'm a little surprised," Whitefish coach Bill Brist said. "You hope that they continue to do what they've been doing, but at a big meet like that you just don't know."

Bigfork senior Kayla Carlson earned ninth-place with 18:39. Flathead freshman Paige Bouma finished 20th with 19:17.

The Columbia Falls boys finished 14th. Patric Jessat placed 40th, 16:31, and Shawn Whitman came in 43rd, 16:34.47, and the Wildcats were the top-placing Class A boys squad.

"I knew we were capable of it," Columbia Falls coach Richard Menicke said. "The girls ran their fastest cumulative time as a team, which is neat."

Glacier freshman Troy Fraley took 35th, 16:26, in the boys race and Rachel Hart earned 44th, 20:03, in the girls race.

"We did seem some improvements and we had some good team attitude afterward," Glacier coach Mike McLean said.

BOYS

Team scores: Mead (Spokane) 130, Lewis and Clark (Spokane) 142, Mount Spokane 178, Gonzaga Prep 189, Flathead 259, Billings Skyview 295, Bozeman 314, Shadle Park (Spokane) 317, Helena Capital 348, University (Spokane) 352, East Valley (Spokane) 434, Missoula Hellgate 452, Idaho Falls 499, Columbia Falls 506, Great Falls Russell 509, Helena High 522, Missoula Sentinel 594, Manhattan 613, Laurel 626, Loyola Sacred Heart 642, Soda Springs (Idaho) 654, Butte 680, Browning 685, Billings Senior 693, Great Falls High 694, Billings West 710, Lewistown 712, Glacier 731, Deer Park (Wash.) 789, Frenchtown 833, Corvallis 841, Shelton (Wash.) 878, Darby 920, Polson 939, Bonners Ferry (Idaho) 947, Billings Central 952, Belgrade 966, Havre 1,064, Cut Bank 1,085, Townsend 1,093, Whitefish 1,135, Ronan 1,139, Dillon 1,228, Hardin 1,229, Hamilton 1,270, Lakeland (Idaho) 1,278, Anaconda 1,410, Libby 1,428, Eureka 1,455, Manhattan Christian 1,491, Arlee 1,581, Thompson Falls 1,597.

Top 10 individuals

1, Nathan Weitz, SP, 14:58; 2, Allan Schroeder, MtS, 15:13; 3, Mike Asay, Man, 15:23; 4, Kenji Bierig, LC, 15:28; 5, Gavin Owens, Ennos, 15:30; 6, Zach Perrin, Flat, 15:31; 7, Andrew Gardner, Mead, 15:34; 8, Austin Kunz, IF, 15:37; 9, Leif Castren, Flat, 15:39; 10, Chris Ennis, LC, 15:43.

Western Montana teams

FLATHEAD (259) - 6, Zach Perrin, 15:31; 9, Leif Castren, 15:39; 58, Jesse Bennett, 16:42; 91, Hunter Schutt, 17:03; 95, Andy Wilson, 17:06.

COLUMBIA FALLS (506) - 40, Patric Jessat, 16:31; 43, Shawn Whitman, 16:34; 71, Justin Whitman, 16:49; 146, Pascal Jessat, 17:35; 206, Joe Gross, 18:09.

GLACIER (731) - 35, Troy Fraley, 16:26; 117, Richie Boyer, 17:17; 183, Michael Gordon, 17:55; 189, Aaron Murray, 18:00; 207, Ben Robertson, 18:09; 217, Flint Martino, 18:16; 312, Kolton Kahon, 18:51

POLSON (939) - 126, Colter Bull, 17:24; 139, Alex Nystrom, 17:30; 185, Miles Bieber, 17:56; 197, Jimmy Bjorge, 18:05; 292, Nick Andrews, 19:09.

WHITEFISH (1,135) - 138, Nathan Knox, 17:30; 170, Jace Kalbfleisch, 17:48; 236, Fischer Gangemi, 18:29; 282, Baxter Graham, 18:49; 309, Chris Reyna, 18:55; Will Holdusen, 18:59; Francisco Valle, 19:53.

RONAN (1,139) - 93, Justin Dusty Bull, 17:04; 226, Brady Oakland, 18:22; 239, Kevin Wreblewski, 18:32; 261, Jordan Franklin, 18:48; 320, Edmond Dupuis, 19:29.

LIBBY (1,428) - 231, William Lott, 18:26; 277, Zeke Carlson, 18:59; 279, Jacob Thomas, 19:00; 311, Ben Graziano, 19:20; 330, Jacob McCrohan, 19:44.

EUREKA (1,455) - 68, Dylan Day, 16:48; 341, Stone Deavours, 20:16; 343, Levi Sturdevant, 20:19; 344, James Roo, 20:19; 359, James Mepham, 22:16.

GIRLS

Team scores: Shadle Park (Spokane) 56, Bozeman 101, Billings West 223, Billings Senior 249, Whitefish 260, Missoula Hellgate 289, Helena High 351, Deer Park (Wash.) 359, Mount Spokane 410, Soda Springs (Idaho) 421, Gonzaga Prep 428, Mead (Spokane) 443, Great Falls High 479, Flathead 495, Missoula Big Sky 512, Missoula Sentinel 558, Glacier 593, Idaho Falls 610, East Valley (Spokane) 618, Belt 657, Ferris (Spokane) 677, Helena Capital 706, Columbia Falls 714, Hamilton 720, Univeristy (Spokane) 754, Billnigs Skyview 757, Bowning 846, Shelton (Wash.) 871, Lewsitown 874, Great Falls Russell 893, Polson 915, Hardin 938, Anaconda 971, Cut Bank 1,021, Belgrade 1,062, Havre 1,087, Miles City 1,103, Three Forks 1,145, Dillon 1,151, Eureka 1,220, Ronan 1,333, Manhattan 1,349, Bonners Ferry (Idaho) 1,385.

Top 10 individuals

1, Andrea Nelson, SP, 17:53; 2, Alexa Aragon, Sen, 18:04; 3, Kendra Weitz, SP, 18:07; 4, Dani Aragon, Sen, 18:13; 5, Nicole Rietz, West, 18:31; 6, Paige Gilchrist, Hgt, 18:33; 7, Katie Morris, SP, 18:35; 8, Sierra Kamplain, Boz, 18:38; 9, Kayla Carlson, Bfk, 18:39; 10, Sarah Johnson, Shel, 18:48.

Local teams

WHITEFISH (260) - 24, Bailey Eaton, 19:21; 27, Jessica Sagen, 19:31; 32, Loni Hanson, 19:38; 82, Hannah Waever, 20:36; 95, Carly Schwickert, 20:49.

FLATHEAD (495) - 20, Paige Bouma, 19:17; 84, Sierra Maxwell, 20:41; 110, Hannah MacFarlane, 21:04; 137, Rose Bryne, 21:25; 144, Cheyenne Cook, 21:29.

GLACIER (593) - 44, Rachel Hart, 20:03; 93, Heather Fraley, 20:47; 138, Kylee Gibson, 21:27; 142, Makayla Mitchell, 21:29; 176, Dumitra Baker, 21:57; 202, Brit Clark, 22:17.

COLUMBIA FALLS (714) - 98, Nicki Moser, 20:54; 118, Jinise Osborne, 21:09; 149, Leesa Benner, 21:32; 164, Madison Stolte, 21:48; 185, Tessa Cowan, 22:01.

POLSON (915) - 74, Mesa Starkey, 20:31; 170, Sierra Pete 21:54; 204, Karissa Koberg, 22:23; 226, Laura Barta, 22:47; 241, Erika Nunlist, 23:01.

EUREKA (1,220) - 141, Bailey Malecha, 21:28; 218, Alex Brunson, 22:40; 276, Erika Douglas, 23:51; 283, Jennifer Miller, 24:08; 302, Genevive Bailey, 25:12.

RONAN (1,333) - 166, Ashley Grandchamp, 21:49; 269, Rachel Hardy, 23:36; 293, Taneisha Lefthand, 24:29; 300, Victoria Crenshaw, 25:06; 305, Roslyn Hardy, 25:22.